The battle for Shivaji

If New York has the Statue of Liberty, Mumbai will soon be able to boast of a towering Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial. That"s the gift the Democratic Front Government has planned for Maharashtra to commemorate the golden jubilee year of the state"s birth.

Standing at 309 ft in the Arabian Sea, the statue will have the Maratha warrior atop a horse, surrounded by lush gardens and a museum with rare artefacts from the era. The grand celebrations come at a price of over Rs 300 crore. But it"s not the cost that is giving politicians sleepless nights; the memorial committee is locked in a bitter caste battle that is seeing political parties jump in to stake their claim to the 17th-century ruler.

Credited with setting up a Hindu empire in the state, Shivaji espoused the ideology of Hindavi Swaraj or freedom for Hindustan. His battles with the regional sultanates established him as a Hindu icon for some; for others, he is the brave war hero who mastered the art of guerrilla warfare.

For centuries after his death, Shivaji has caught the attention of historians, poets and politicians alike. Several plays, films and books have been written on the warrior who ruled the Maratha Empire till 1640. Various regional political parties have invoked his name to garner support and win votes.

"Shivaji is one of the few historical legacies that Maharashtra can be genuinely proud of. But over time, the real in the history has given way to the imagined as well," says Suhas Palshikar, professor of political science at Pune University.

For years, political parties have staked claim to selective parts of the Maratha warrior"s legacy to strengthen their foothold in the state. The Shiv Sena was founded and then later grew on the claims that it followed the principles of Shivaji, a saviour of the Hindus.

During its regime in the state between 1995 and 1999, the Sena-BJP underlined their Shivaji theme by renaming city landmarks after the ruler. The NCP is cashing in on Shivaji"s Maratha connection too. The recent Lok Sabha elections saw it woo Marathas by offering tickets to Shivaji"s descendants, Udayanraje Bhosale and Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje.

State politicians call it an attempt to strengthen the party"s base in western Maharashtra, the heart of the erstwhile Maratha Empire. NCP leader Vinayak Mete, who was suspended for attacking writer Kumar Ketkar because of a satirical piece on the memorial, has been reinducted into the party within a year. "The regionalisation of Indian politics over the last 30 years has seen parties fall back on symbols, historical figures and caste. They are capitalising on Shivaji"s legacy since he is revered in the state," says Venkatesh Kumar, political scientist at Mumbai University.

Political observers claim that the recent controversy over who should head the memorial committee is a ploy to appropriate Shivaji"s legacy ahead of the Assembly elections and cash in on Maratha pride by invoking his name. The battle has now taken the form of a Brahmin-Maratha divide with hardliner Maratha groups trying to emphasise Shivaji"s caste.

While the Maratha Seva Sangh is objecting to the appointment of Babasaheb Purandare, a Brahmin, as the chief of the committee, the Maratha Mahasangh has threatened an agitation if the memorial includes Brahmin figures from history such as Ramdas Maharaj and Dadoji Konddeo, fearing that it will lead to "Brahminising the Maratha warrior". Palshikar explains, "The memory of Shivaji helps sustain regional pride. So parties follow a process of appropriation of the icon. Every appropriator attaches a certain meaning to the memory of Shivaji."

It is believed that the scramble by political parties to stake claim to Shivaji is the result of decades of selective portrayal by intellectuals and politicians. The pre-Independence era saw an attempt to give the warrior a pro-Brahmin feel, leading to the popular phrase Gow Brahman Prati Palak (saviour of the Brahmin and the cow). In recent times, there has been an upsurge of Maratha groups who have refused to accept history as propagated by Brahmin scholars.

With assembly elections being scheduled for later this year, Shivaji"s name is being whipped up once again to win support, a strategy that has been used from the pre-Independence era. Bal Gangadhar Tilak celebrated Shiv Jayanti to gather people and inspire them to fight for Independence; leaders of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement also used his name to garner support. Later, the Shiv Sena, which takes its name from Shivaji, also used the Maratha ruler to invoke Marathi asmita.

Says Sanjay Raut, spokesperson of the Sena: "Whenever there has been an agitation, Maharashtra has come together under Shivaji"s name and it continues. There"s no better way to connect with people." While the attempt to stake a claim to Shivaji may have grown manifold in the last few years, political parties are aware that it will not translate into votes.

Says Mete: "How will it benefit any party when everyone is using his name?" Despite this, regional outfits continue to be locked in a battle of one-upmanship to grab a piece of his heritage.

In the name of the great warrior

The Shiv Sena was formed in 1966 on the principles of the Maratha warrior. From 1995 to 1999, the Shiv Sena-BJP regime renamed the city airport and the erstwhile Victoria Terminus after Shivaji.

In November 2008, the Sena launched the Shiv Vada Pav, a food chain to encourage young Marathi entrepreneurs. The NCP alleged that the Sena was belittling the warrior.

Political parties ransacked the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute in Pune while protesting against British historian James Laine"s book on Shivaji as they felt that it insulted Marathi sentiments.

In 2008, the state government renamed the Dadoji Konddeo award as the Best Sports Coach award after Maratha groups protested against highlighting the Brahmin tutor"s influence.

The Maratha Seva Sangh wants Babasaheb Purandare to be removed from the post of chief of the Shivaji Memorial Committee as he is a Brahmin and had "distorted" Maratha history.